The BRICS Post：China to host International Silk Road belt conference

《金砖国家邮报》: 中国将举办丝绸之路经济带国际研讨会

　　摘译：丝绸之路经济带国际研讨会将于6月26日在乌鲁木齐举办。中国国家主席习近平在去年秋季访问中亚和东南亚国家时提出了沿古丝绸之路和21世纪海上丝绸之路建设经济带的倡议。海上丝绸之路始于中国福建，止于意大利威尼斯。与此同时，丝绸之路上的19个中外城市发布了一项声明，称他们将沿着这条古代贸易路线联合发展旅游业。中国外交部长王毅去年表示，中国、印度、俄罗斯在构建丝绸之路经济走廊上其重要作用。王毅称，中国、俄罗斯和印度横跨两大洲，连接三大洋，人口占全球40%。

　　原文：

The International Seminar on Silk Road Economic Belt will kick off in Urumchi, China on June 26.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, during his visit to Central and Southeast Asian countries last fall, put forward the two
initiatives of building an economic belt along the ancient Silk Road and a 21st century Maritime Silk Road.

“The Silk Road boasts a 3-billion population and a market that is unparalleled both in scale and potential,” Xi said in September last year.

The Silk Road connected China and Europe from around 100 B.C.

The 4,000-mile road linked ancient Chinese, Indian, Babylonian, Arabic, Greek and Roman civilizations.

A new map unveiled by Xinhua shows the Chinese plans for the Silk Road run through Central China to the northern Xinjiang from where it travels through Central Asia entering Kazakhstan and onto Iraq, Iran, Syria and then Istanbul in Turkey from where it runs across Europe cutting across Germany, Netherlands and Italy.

The maritime Silk Road begins in China’s Fujian and ends at Venice, Italy.

Aiding the building of the route is the fact that China’s trade ties with central and west Asia has grown over the years.

In 2013, China’s imports from Arab countries amounted to $140 billion.

China’s trading volume with the five central Asian countries exceeds $45 billion, over 100 times the figures in 1992, when they first established diplomatic ties. China and Russia have permanent interests in Central Asia and are members of the security bloc, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Meanwhile, nineteen Chinese and foreign cities along the Silk Road on Sunday issued a declaration that they will jointly develop tourism along the ancient trade route.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had said last year China, India and Russia can “play a major role in building the Silk Route Economic Corridor”.

Wang noted that China, Russia and India stride two continents, link three oceans and have 40 per cent of the world population as well as over 22 per cent of world territorial surface.

Meanwhile, the US and Japan have their own conflicting versions of reviving the Silk Route.